Is it enough to tell them Jesus loves them?

Sunday Diane and I had a late lunch with some friends.  It was about 2:30 when we ate.  Most of us had not eaten lunch yet and to go one better, some of us had not even eaten breakfast.  One person in particular was commenting how hungry they were, and when they ate they kept going on about how good the food was.  If someone had eaten lunch at 12:30 or 1:00, the food would not tasted so good as it did to the person who was really hungry.  Food tastes better when you are hungry.

Likewise, good news sounds better to people who are hungry for good news.  It is good news when a healthy 30 year old has a checkup and the doctor tells him or her that all their tests came out perfect.  But they do not rejoice like the person who has been fighting cancer for a year who hears the words, “The treatments have worked and it’s gone.”    It’s good news when a mother delivers a baby and hears the words, “It’s a healthy baby.”  But those words are the fulfilment of hope for a mother who has suffered with complications.

Finally, this brings me to the ultimate Good News –> the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Spreading grass seed

Spreading grass seed

It’s one thing to tell people that Jesus loves them.  The church throws that phrase around like grass seeds when we’re planting grass.   Jesus loves you, Jesus loves you, Jesus loves you.  Jesus loves you does not sound the same to someone who does not see their need for Him as it does to someone who understands how their sin separates them from God.  We can walk in to a movie theater that is showing a pornographic movie, stand in front of the people there, tell them Jesus loves them, and then walk out.  And what have we done?

Compare that to saying, “What you are doing here is not right.  It breaks God’s heart when He sees what this evil is doing to you and those you love.  Jesus loves you so much… so much that He died on the cross to take away the penalty and guilty stain of your sin.  It’s the same sacrifice that took away the penalty of my own sin.  If you will confess your sin to Him and ask Him to forgive you and ask Him to lead you away from this kind of life, He will hear you, forgive you, and help you. ”  We have to love people enough to let them hear the bad news.  True love is not merely telling someone that God loves them, but rather bringing them to the point of seeing their need and giving them the chance to receive or reject Jesus, who is the cure for the bad news.

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This entry was posted in Hard times, Obstacles, Opportunity and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

1 Response to Is it enough to tell them Jesus loves them?

  1. Julia says:

    Amen!
    Good point I thought about that too.
    Blessings.

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